Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to electronics, and, in particular, to memory devices.
Description of the Related Technology
Read errors can occur in various types of memories, such as magnetoresistive random access memories (MRAMs). MRAM is a form of non-volatile memory in which data can be stored by adjusting a resistance in a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) of a memory cell. For instance, the resistance of an MTJ can be switched between a high resistance state and a low resistance state. In an MRAM, a current induced magnetic field can switch the magnetization of the MTJ to switch between states.
Certain types of memories can encounter relatively high read error rates. Such error rates can be caused by several different sources or mechanisms or non-uniformities in the memories. Due to non-uniformities in manufacturing, different memory cells in the same memory array may not be matched with each other. For instance, in some MRAMs that store binary states, the variability in the memory cells can cause a relatively high variation in the distribution in resistance for both the low resistance states and high resistance states for memory cells in the same memory array. Some ways of reading from an MRAM, such as a self-reference read, can encounter fewer errors but consume higher power and can also increase the latency for accessing data from the memory.
Accordingly, a need exists for accurately and efficiently reading from memories, such as MRAMs.
To avoid repetition of description, components having the same or similar function may be referenced by the same reference number.